


After the Parting

by Sarah_Carter_Rogers



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Multi, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Past Mpreg, Past Relationship(s), Post-Episode: s01e13 The Parting of the Ways, Post-Episode: s01e14 The Christmas Invasion, post ending of s1e13 End of Days
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-02-07 06:27:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18615007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah_Carter_Rogers/pseuds/Sarah_Carter_Rogers
Summary: This fic was originally posted on Torchwood Australia Forum. Incomplete.When the Doctor wakes post-regeneration he feels something amiss, a presence he hasn't felt since the end of the Time War. After saving the Earth again he sets out to find the source.I would tell you what inspired this fic... but that would just spoil it.





	1. I sense something...

He could hear the gentle hum of the TARDIS, could smell the sweet aroma of the evaporated tea clinging to the air. In one swift movement the Doctor stood up and took a good look around him. He could hear the anxious mumbling of voices coming from outside of the TARDIS’s doors. But there was still more to it then that. He could feel, he could almost hear someone inside. Like a long lost memory of what it had been like. Like an echo from before the destruction of Gallifrey. He closed his eyes and tried to reach out to that small voice, but got nothing. He sighed, maybe he was just deluding himself, that flimsy echo could just have been apart of the regeneration sickness that had assailed him so far.  
  
He knew he couldn’t dwell on it, the fate of the Earth was once again falling into his hands and it could not wait a moment longer. He walked over to the doors and opened them with a small smile on his face “Did you miss me?” He asked, not really expecting anyone to answer him. The Leader of the Sycorax obviously took offence to his very presence as with a ferocious howl he lashed out at him with an energy whip, it was a simple matter for him to catch it, like it was nothing more than a child’s toy. “You could have someone's eye out with that!” he chastised, the Sycorax leader was still not done yet as he took to the Doctor with his staff. The Doctor again deftly disarms the man and breaks the staff as if it were a piece of twig, dropping the remnants to the ground. “You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy.”  
  
***  
  
Hours later the Doctor sat on the couch with Rose, Mickey and Jackie. The tellie was on but even with his capacity for multitasking he wasn’t paying it any attention. That echo he had felt when he had first awoken back on the TARDIS hadn’t dissipated yet, and that was the most curious thing about it. He was as back to his good old self as he could be after regenerating and it was still there.  
  
The Doctor stood and quietly slipped out of the modest Tyler flat and headed back down to where he had parked the TARDIS earlier. He really needed to find out where and from whom this echo was coming from. There was no way that an ordinary human, even one who hadn’t been lazy enough to allow such skills to fade, could be leaving such an echo in his mind.  
  
He was searching through screens of data on the console monitor when he heard the TARDIS door open. He peered around to see Rose walking up the ramp, a quizzical smile on her face. “Was wondering where you had wondered off to.” Her smile fell at the look on his face, he hadn’t thought that it was that bad. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing’s wrong.” The look on her face said quite clearly that she hadn’t bought it “well that all depends entirely on what you define wrong to be.” He looked back at the screen “if you mean there may be someone out there who shouldn’t be? Then yes I think something may be wrong.”  
  
She looked half intrigued at him, “well then by that definition what is wrong?”  
  
He looked up at her again before quickly looking back at the screen, then suddenly he stepped away from it and looked intently at Rose. “Do you remember, back in Utah, when you asked if some of my people could have survived like the Dalek had, do you remember what I said?”  
  
She nodded, not sure where he was going with this but was willing to play along “you said that you would know inside your head. You said that it felt like there was no one else.”  
  
“Exactly.” He sat himself down on the Captain’s chair “Before I came out and faced the Sycoraxic leader, before I had even left the TARDIS, I… felt something. A faint voice inside my head, almost like an echo.” He looked down at his entwined hands and Rose crossed over to him, crouching down in front of him. “I thought it might have had something to do with how badly my regeneration had gone. A delusion of some sort.” He reached out to take her hands in his. “But now, I’m back to my old self… well, within reason. But that voice, it’s still there, faint but undeniable. It wasn’t an impression created by my own self desires. It was like… there was someone out there.”  
  
“Your telepathic right maybe its just some human who’s developed a similar ability, or an alien maybe.”  
  
“No” he said vehemently. “My telepathic awareness of other such beings, whether human or no is completely different. This… this is more like there is another Time Lord out there, somewhere, and if my feeling is right they are right here on earth.”  
  
She was gapping at him at this revelation, “Another Time Lord… on Earth, you sure ‘bout that?” He just nodded, “How come you’re only sensing them now then if they survived to, shouldn’t you have known sooner?”  
  
“I should have, don’t know why I didn’t though.” He pulled Rose close to him “the only way I’m going to be able to answer that is if I find the source of the echo. Find the source, find the reason you’ve got yourself the answer.”  
  
“So when are we going?”  
  
“Soon, I have to get a better idea of where this person is. Though they may be close, their presence is unusually dim. If I didn’t know any better I would almost say that they were trying to hide or something.”  
  
“Well then snap to it, I may like to stay a little longer but I think that this is far more important.” With that he jumped back up and ran back to the monitor. He poured over the data that was scrolling across his screen.  
  
“Humm.” He mumbled curiously, “According to this they didn’t come by TARDIS, there is no signature of another anywhere in this solar system let alone on Earth..  
  
“Why don’t you let your mum know, don’t want to just up and disappear on her, especially on Christmas. I don’t much fancy being slapped again.”  
  
“Good idea,” she pulled out her cell phone and sent her mother a quick message, nothing to elaborate, just to assure her that they would be back soon and not to worry about them disappearing on her.  
  
The Doctor was sure that he had the right local, and he was quite surprised that he had been there before so recently. With a quick flip of the switch the TARDIS made its way to Cardiff.  
  
***  
  
The Doctor and Rose stood not two hundred yards from the TARDIS leaning on the rails surrounding the all too familiar plaza where they had last landed when they had come to refuel in Cardiff. It felt almost like it had happened a lifetime ago, and for the Doctor it really was. Rose didn’t ask why they were still waiting around here, she knew that it was better to wait, this was the one thing that she knew they would have to take time over. She couldn’t help but to think back on their time here. Back with Jack before the Daleks had killed him. She sighed, boy how she missed him. His lewd and abrasive personality was something of an acquired taste, but one that she really missed right about now. What hurt more was knowing that she had only been minutes too late to save him.  
  
Just as Rose was starting to sink into her own musings the Doctor stood up straight and looked off towards the small footbridge near the bay as a small group of people started to make their way under it to walk through the plaza. They were all caught up in their own conversations to notice that they were now being watched. The shadows that they were still walking through obscure the identity of the various members of the group, but judging by the Doctor’s sudden interest in these particular people she figured that what or rather who they had come looking for was apart of that group. She only paid them small amount of her attention, trusting to the Doctor to work it out.  
  
That was until she heard an all to familiar laugh booming out across from them. Her heart skipped a beat just then, she thought that it was impossible, wishful thinking on her part, not wanting him to be dead.  
  
It was then that the group passed into a patch of light that was enough for her to see the group well enough for her to make them out. And right there, centre mass was the one person she had been sure she would never see again.  
  
Jack Harkness.


	2. You Are Not Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped that someone would have made a guess before I posted this next little bit.

Rose didn’t know how to react to this miracle. The Doctor however just brushed it off like it was of little consequence, and given why they were here it may as well be. “The woman, two steps behind Jack. It’s her. I’m certain of it. I’ll see if I can get her attention, just a moment.” With that he closed his eyes. Rose, her eyes on the group saw the woman freeze almost in mid step and bring her hand to her head as if she had a headache.

One of the men in the group, a young good looking guy in a suit that could sure have given the Doctor a run for his money, turned to her and asked her something where for Rose the only audible part was ‘right’. She just waved off his concern and they went on their way.

The Doctor, however, came out of the meditative state with a slight gasp. He looked mildly surprised about something. “Is it her?” she asked, she felt almost certain after what she saw.

“Yes, but it’s strange…” he didn’t say any more, just started off in their general direction.

“Do you think Jack might know something about her?”

“It’s possible, but that may not be such a good idea.” She looked at him and he could tell what she was wondering about that. “We don’t know how long it’s been for him, he may not be very happy with us.”

The pair remained silent as they followed the small group to one of the local pubs where the group sat together in a collection of small tables that had been pulled together just for them. Rose and the Doctor took a small table in one of the far corners.

They both ordered drinks, Rose didn’t ask the Doctor anything else, even though she was buzzing with questions. The Doctor on the other hand was perplexed, for once in his life he had no clue as to what he should do. This made him feel more than a little bit uncomfortable.

With out any sign from the Doctor about what was going to happen, Rose soon got rather sick of all this waiting. She then decided to take matters into her own hands. She went up to the barman, wrote a small note on a napkin and asked him to deliver it to Jack.

***

Rose didn’t have to wait very long. Jack came out looking so very much like he had when she had last seen him not two days ago for her. There were some minor difference, his hair was one example, but he was still, undeniable Jack. She smiled at him as he walked to where she was standing. She couldn’t help it, she was still so relieved that he was still alive that she flung her arms around him in the biggest bear hug that she had ever given in her life. “I’m so glad you’re alright Jack. You’ve no idea how relieved I am to see that you’re alive.” The pair just stood there for a minute before they broke into idle chitchat.

It was about five minutes of this before Rose finally managed to get around to the subject at hand. “So Jack, that woman with the dark brown hair, who is she?”

A cheeky grin crossed his face “I didn’t know you played both sides Rose.”

“Jaaaack.” She half cried out in exasperation. When wasn’t there a time his mind went straight to the sex place? “First off I don’t and secondly, just answer the question, please.”

Jack’s smile fell from his face. “Where did you say the Doctor was again?” He already knew the answer to that, and she knew him well enough to recognise any attempt at a diversion. “Jack…” He didn’t look at her.

“How long has it been, Rose, for you anyway. How long has it been since… the Game station?”

“Just a couple of days. The Doctor almost died, though technically he should have. You told me in your time there were legends about Time Lords, was the one about how they could cheat death.” He nodded. “Well that’s how come he’s still here. He was a bit out of it afterwards and spent most of yesterday recovering. Then today we had to come here.” If Jack felt like playing this cat and mouse game then she wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

Or maybe there was a reason for him no longer being as straightforward as she remembered him being. “And how long has it been for you Jack?”

He looked down at the ground, “Just shy of thirty years now.”

She looked at him shocked by this, “Bu…Bu… You can’t be, you haven’t aged that much.”

“There are things I need to talk to the Doctor about, but out here in the open where anyone can overhear is not a good idea.” He wrote down a number for her and gave her directions to a place where they could talk freely, with that he just walked off, no goodbye hug, nothing. He really was a new man.

Once Jack was a fair distance away, Rose hastily walked back inside to where she had left the Doctor. She filled him in on what she had done and what had been said as the pair left to go to the place that Jack had told her about.

***

They arrive shortly at the place where Jack had directed them to. It was an information centre, and it was locked. Rose remembered the numbers that Jack had written down, looking at it she entered it into the keypad by the door. The door opened for them and they entered. Looking around the saw no one, and aside from a door marked ‘Staff Only’ there was nothing or any real note. It was when the Doctor finally closed the door behind them that a panel in the wall to their right opened, and with a slightly amused look at each other they went through the secret entrance and followed the corridor to a lift, which they took.

Everything seemed fine until the Doctor caught sight of one word brandished boldly across one wall, ‘Torchwood’. Now he was feeling slightly nervous, he knew they considered him to be their number one enemy, but he had no idea why, one of the downsides to time travel he supposed.

It was just then that Jack appeared out on the floor above them. He smiled at them. It wasn’t the same unrestrained smile they remembered, though no one else would know the difference. He motioned for them to come on up.

When they had settled down, Jack spoke “I’ve been waiting a while to find you two again. I was pretty pissed off that you two left me behind. Wasn’t easy, running into that control room and seeing the TARDIS disappear like that.”

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck, “Sorry about that Jack but…”

“I know, Rose told me you thought that I was dead. That’s one of the things that I want to talk to you about.”

“And the others?”

“Obviously something your interested in.” The Doctor’s eyebrow rose in curious anticipation. “Rose let it slip… about a certain someone that you wanted to know about. Question is, why?”

“After the Game station I had to regenerate, once I recovered from that I could sense her. I know what she is, and that raises quite a few other questions.”

“Like how come you couldn’t pick her up when we were here last time?” The Doctor nodded. “Do you remember when we were all at Flamira 4?”

“Sure, they made the best banana splits. But I don’t se… Ahh.”

“What Doctor?” Rose asked.

“Let’s just say he got a bit more than we all bargained for on that trip.”


	3. Father's Day

“So your saying that she… she’s his daughter?” Rose asked uncertainly, Jack just nodded. “How?”

“Now come on Rose, I thought you were old enough to know about that. As I recall you quite enjoyed that night yourself.”

“I am… I do…Wh…What I mean is… He’s a bloke and your… Guys … guys, just…can’t.”

Jack just couldn’t help but smile at her inability to grasp the situation. “You’re forgetting, I’m a 51st century guy. By my time were just a bit more flexible when it comes to these sorts of matters. It was a real fade for blokes several centuries back. And apparently I had to find out the hard way that one of my ancestors had fiddled with his genes like this.” He could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t know what to think.

Jack looked at his watch. “With how long we’ve been talking everyone will have gone home already. Do you want to camp out here or go back to the TARDIS? You can meet her tomorrow.” The Doctor just nodded his head. Jack pulled out some spare blankets and camped out on the sofa while Rose took his bed below his office. Jack wasn’t sure what the Doctor did all night. He knew not only from his experiences with the Doctor but also with their daughter that his physiology allowed him to go with out sleep for days on end. Jack figured that he was probably poking around somewhere mucking around with who knows what.

***

The next morning Jack woke to find the Doctor poking around. He sat down on the table propping his feet onto the chair. “Have a nice night?”

“It was nice enough, you guys sure have a lot of stuff here.” He sat down next to Jack. “I’m curious, why did you join Torchwood, they count me as an enemy.”

“I first came across them when Jade was just over four. It was pretty clear what their motto was, ‘if it's alien, it's ours’, doesn’t take a genius to figure out what would happen to Jade if the found out about her. And you know the old saying, ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ the way I figured if I got into bed with them it would allow me to keep them well away from Jade.” The Doctor nodded in understanding at that.

He looked at his watch, “Almost sunrise, Jade likes to watch it from on top of the Millennium Centre, I called her last night to let her know that you were here so she’ll be expecting to see you sometime today.”

“Sure.” He got up to go and was half way to the door when he turned back to face him. “Jack, I…” he paused half waved his hand dismissively, “never mind.”  
Jack smiled, “I’ll let Rose know where you’ve got to when she wakes up.” He told him as he left.


	4. Father-Daughter Time

The Doctor waited alone on top of the Millennium Centre, red pre-dawn light starting to spill over the horizon as he drank up the view. The cool breeze coming off of the bay whipping his coat tail out around him as it played with his hair. He felt her approach long before she even stepped out onto the roof proper.

When she finally arrived she just stood there waiting. The Doctor finished looking out at the view as he slowly turned to face her. Neither broke the silence and The Doctor used this opportunity to look at her properly for the first time. Her hair was long and worn loose, blown with the wind around her face. Her soft facial features accentuated by the deep brown toning and gentle shine of her hair. She stood stock still in a pair of black leather above ankle boots that added only a couple of inches to her height, flapping around them were the hems of a pair of deep blue form fitting jeans leading up to a rich red halter neck top, and to top off her ensemble she wore a black leather full length coat that oddly made him think of it as a sort of feminine cross between the old leather jacket that he had worn and Jack’s old great coat. Similar enough to the brown coat he now wore. The Doctor couldn’t help but smile, she was beautiful.

He took the first step towards her and she tentatively followed suit. He could tell that she was nervous about this first meeting, and honestly he couldn’t blame her for that, both of his hearts were pounding and if he had been human he was sure that his ears would have been ringing. When the pair were within arms reach of each other they stopped and The Doctor reached out his hand to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear before bringing his hand to her cheek. The small smile on her face nervously flittered further out across her face before quickly retreating to its original form.

After a brief moments pause The Doctor reached down to her shoulder and pulled her in close as he wrapped his arms around her, she followed suit holding him around his waist as he held her, one hand placed on the back of her head. Though this new body was still a bit awkward to him there was something indefinably right about the way the two of them fit together as he held her. And though his old body had been the one to give her life he felt almost as if this new one was made just for her, to care and comfort her. To do all the things a father would do for his child.

It seemed like ages passed before the pair pulled slightly apart from each other. Neither spoke for a moment as the sky brightened around them, the beauty of the sunrise lost on the pair. Being so close now The Doctor didn’t need for her to say anything, he could just pick up the gentle wafts of emotion that flowed through her, and he tried to reciprocate the best he could.

***

Hours later Rose paced around the conference room of the Torchwood hub waiting as patiently as she could but it was not working very well. As she looked out across the space she could see the others working away, none had questioned her presence when Jack had, albeit briefly, introduced her to them. She was glad to see the young man who had turned to talk to Jade yesterday when the group had crossed the plaza, he was carrying a pair of steaming mugs towards her, opening the door for him he set the mugs down on the table before pulling a chair out in front of one, “There you are miss.”

Rose had liked him from the first moment that they had meet, while the others of Jack’s team had some rough edges and abrasive attitudes, Ianto, as she recalled, was nothing short of gentlemanly in his manner and decorum. When she took the seat he helped her in before sitting down to keep her company.

It was only about five minutes later that the orange light above the door went off, indicating its use causing Rose to stand and walk to the window to see who it was. Seeing no one from inside being ready to leave Rose knew it had to be The Doctor and Jade. Turning to Ianto she thanked the man for the cuppa that he had brought and for keeping her company before she walked out of the door and down the spiral staircase nearby.

As she reached the bottom she could hear gentle laughter coming from the pair as they crossed the threshold. This elicited a smile from Rose, seeing the easy in which the pair acted with each other, she had had her concerns with how easy it would be for the pair to develop a father-daughter relationship when Jade was already an adult. But if the current sight was any indication she had nothing to worry about on that front.


	5. Last Minute Shopping

“I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea?” was Jack’s reply.

“Why not? You said it yourself, as soon as you left the Game station, you went to the twentieth century, Jade’s never meet any of her family, your family. You said you had been there nearly thirty years, in all that time you never once saw them and you don’t want to spend Christmas with them.” Rose was flabbergasted by his adamant refusal to her suggestion that they all drop in on his family for a second dose of Christmas cheer.

The Doctor and Jade watched the argument go on from the side lines, Jade was comfortable with what ever they all agreed on and The Doctor while he had always rebuffed any attempt to get him to do something that might be deemed as domestic, no longer saw the term as having the same level of horror as it once had for him. Though neither really understood Jack’s reasoning behind his refusal.

Jack sighed, “We didn’t really leave it on the best of terms alright.” He dropped his head. “When I was selected for the Time Agency, it was a big deal for my family, HUGE. We grew up in the Boeshane Peninsula. It’s a tiny little place. No one had ever been selected from there before. You can imagine the prestige that having someone like me in the family would have meant. But then, like I told you, I woke up one day and they’d taken two years of my memories. They all thought I was being stupid leaving the Agency over that. Most of them ignored me, turned their backs on me. A few of my older female relatives, aunts and grandmothers, thought I should settle down and have a family, forget what they had done. When I didn’t they followed the others. I wouldn’t be welcome there.”

“Don’t you miss them?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah of course I do, but I don’t regret the choices I’ve made either, and going back could cause a lot of problems because I don’t regret them.”

Jade chose that moment to speak, “Whatever you choose dad, I know I’ll be happy either way.”

***

Jack woke up the next morning feeling slightly agitated about the whole of what they talked about the day before. He did miss them, and he knew that he was denying a part of who she was from Jade. As he had laid awake that night he had thought long and hard about it and had decided to try and work things out with his family. At the very least he would give Jade the chance to get to know them.

He walked into the console room to find Jade seated on the captain’s chair as The Doctor fiddled with something under the console. They both looked at him as he entered, Jade smiled as The Doctor said “’morning.”

Jack almost froze as he started to speak. “I’ve changed my mind.” The Doctor just looked at him.

Jade was the one that spoke, “You sure dad?”

“Yeah, I mean it can’t get any worse than it already is so we don’t really have anything to lose.”

Jade jumped up from her place with a squeal and ran the short distance between them and hugged him fiercely saying over and over again, “Thank you, thank you.” The Doctor just stood up from what he had been doing and walked around the console making adjustments here and there as he set a course for their new destination.

When he was done he turned to the pair, “We’ll be getting there on Christmas Eve, plenty of time for us to get in some shopping before we go.” With that Jade let go of Jack and ran to The Doctor and began all over again with him once the word shopping had left his mouth and he began to wonder just what he had gotten himself into this time.

Jack couldn’t help but laugh, he knew what Jade was like when it came to shopping, she became the proverbial kid in the candy store, even when she wasn’t in a candy store. Just then Rose came in looking curiously at Jade. “What’s going on?”

The Doctor who was the only one unoccupied enough to answer. “Jack changed his mind about seeing his family.”

“And why’s she hugging you instead of Jack then?”

“I promised some time for shopping.” Regretting saying it the moment the words left his lips, and scarily mimicking Jade she squealed and ran to hug him too. He now had the both of them to contend with. This was going to be one really long day.

***

With one last flourish flipping a lever on the console the TARDIS made a jolt before settling down. “Here we are, 24th of December 5063.” The Doctor informed them as he pulled out a set of unusual looking cards and divided them up between them. Both Rose and Jade jumped up and half ran for the door pulling on their jacket and coat. “Be back here in five hours.” He called after the pair, they waved to show their understanding before they seemed to vanish from sight.

Jack just walked up to him, pulling him in close for a quick kiss before he spoke. “Just one thing before we leave.” He paused just to let The Doctor know he was being serious, “Please tell me you didn’t make Jade’s with an unlimited credit?”

The Doctor looked at him uncertainly before he spoke. “Why?”

“You did, didn’t you?” He just shook his head. “Now she’s going to be impossible to get out of here.” He just wrapped his arm around The Doctor’s waist and they walked out together, each grabbing their respective coats and more respectably then the girls pulled them on as the left.

***

Jade was perusing through the wares of one of the many stores in the area that The TARDIS had landed in, burdened as she was by the baggage of four hours of solid shopping. Gingerly she shifted all of the bags to one hand as she reached out to take a closer look at one of the objects on display. It was a small pendant on some sort of exotic material chain that she had never seen before. There was a jewel embedded in it that caught the light as she moved it slightly in her hand reflecting a dazzling array of colours through out all of the wavelengths beyond that which the local humans could ever hope to perceive. She was so mesmerised by the pendant that she hardly noticed the man looking her over from across the room.

She only took any real notice when he crossed the distance between them. “Beautiful.” Was all he said.

She barely looked at him before she replied. “Don’t I know it, you don’t see many things like this where I’m from.” She was careful not to say anything more specific.

He leaned down to her eye level, he placed an arched index finger under her chin to encourage her to look at him, and when she did, “I wasn’t talking about the pendant,” he held out a hand to her, “My name’s Sean.”

She took his hand, “Jade.”

“Don’t see many women like you around here.”

“Not likely to again either.” She simply smiled half returning her attention to the pendant, turning it in her hand to admire it from all sides.

He rested his elbows on the display stand continuing to examine her “It’s well past lunch time and judging by the evidence you’ve been busy, would you care for a bite to eat?”

“I’m fine. I only have another fifty three minutes left to shop. But thanks for the invite any way.” She was careful to make sure her tone was dismissive with out being over the top. She then carefully placed the pendant back on the table and re-sorted her shopping bags before leaving to find somewhere else to shop, and as she did so she could feel his eyes still on her.

A short walk through the last minute crowds later, Jade caught sight of two tall figures standing just a short walk ahead. As a smile crossed her face one of them turned to face her with a wide grin on his face. Jade started to push her way through the crowd as the other figure turned to see her headed towards them. When she had finally made it to them Jack couldn’t help but laugh at all the bags she had. “I see you’ve had a light shopping trip this time.” He carefully peaked into a couple of the bags, knowing that if one so much as dropped a handle he’d have to carry the lot. He frowned, “This wasn’t meant to be a personal shopping trip you know?”

“What can I do I haven’t a clue what to buy anyone?” She nodded her head up along the way she had been headed, “Do you guys want to grab a snack? That looks like it might be worth a try.”

Jack shook his head almost in unbelieving manner, “Sure, you could probably use the pit stop after all your shopping.” Then both he and The Doctor each took one of her arms and escorted her towards the stall that she had indicated.

It didn’t take long for the trio to make it to the stall and order their preferred treats. Jack was still marvelling at Jade’s innate ability to carry so much shopping while carrying two desserts. In one hand she was carrying an ice cream cone with banana ice cream topped with cream and chocolate syrup, and in the other something called a wicked banana. Jade had been ecstatic to find that they were still sold three millennia on. The Doctor had been surprised by the idea of the wicked banana, though Jack couldn’t believe that someone so addicted to bananas as him wouldn’t have come across them before now, and had ordered one for himself.


	6. Family Reunion

Once they had finished their delectable purchases, it was closing in on the time that they would have to go meet Rose back at the TARDIS. Stopping every so often when something caught Jade’s eye they all headed back to meet her.

However with a shopping addict like her their trip took longer then they had hoped. Rose was already there, impatiently waiting on them. The quartet sorted out their respective purchases, however it was more a case of Jack having bought all the gifts then it had been a combined effort.

Once that was all done they set about getting ready for turning up at Jack’s family’s home. Jack ditched his traditional greatcoat and suit ensemble in favour of a 51st century variant on jeans, a Christmas coloured t-shirt and a crimson red sweeter.

The girls primarily discarded their wholly 21st century attire in favour of more temporally fashionable clothing choices that they had both purchased that day. Rose chose a simple black metal pair of stilettos, a black glittering snug pair of pants cut similar to jeans but with the feel of a pair of tracksuit pants with bright red reverse halter neck top and black jacket. Jade on the other hand wore a pair of red metal one sole high heel shoes with straps that went up to half way up her calves, a black diagonally cut skirt with black and red frills, and to top it all off, the one thing she wore from the 21st century, a red Christmas t-shirt boldly displaying the print ‘Dear Santa, Define Good’, to top the outfit off she wore a simple black jacket.

The Doctor, however, in true Doctor style remained largely unchanged clothing wise. The only difference was the Christmas tie that he had found hidden in the corner of the wardrobe room, one that Jade delighted in repeatedly pressing the button to have it play Jingle bells on their way there.

Thanks to The Doctor’s careful positioning of the TARDIS it was just a short walk down the street to Jack’s family’s home. When they arrived at the place all but Jack and The Doctor showed signs of being surprised by its size. They walked up to the front door Jack in the lead, and when they reached the door Jack reached out to press a button on the door, that Rose presumed must be some form of doorbell, though no sound could be heard.

A short time later they all, The Doctor and Jade sooner, heard the sound of someone approaching the door. A split seconds notice was all that they were afforded between the latch opening and the door being swung open in front of them. The young woman who opened the door looked at them in mild confusion before she finally remembered her manners, “Merry Christmas, can I help you?” She showed no signs of recognising Jack.

But it seemed that Jack recognised her. “Emma?”

“Yes?”

“Is your mum here?” She nodded, “Can you get her?” The woman closed the door and they heard her walk off somewhere.

“Who was that?” Rose asked.

“My niece, last time I saw her she was only three. No surprise she wouldn’t recognise me.”

They waited a good five minutes, and Rose was starting to worry that they had been forgotten when another older woman opened the door with Emma standing a few steps behind her. She looked curiously over all of them wondering who they were until her eyes landed on Jack. The best description that the girls could come up with for the look on her face as she saw him was dumb shock. “Jonathan? Oh its so good to see you.” She started to cry as she reached up to hug him.

“It’s been a long time.” As he pulled back he looked at Emma, “I can’t believe how big Em has grown, last time I saw her she was still an ankle bitter.”

The woman laughed, “She has grown a lot, where have you been?” She looked at the other three unfamiliar faces on the doorstep, “That can wait, lets get you all inside.” She stepped out of the way and let them in. They entered into some sort of family room with a huge Christmas tree in the corner. She turned to face them, “I’m Edith, Jack’s older sister.”

“Yeah and she never let me forget it.” He snorted in laughter. He pulled her into him as he turned to introduce the others. “This is Rose.” He indicated her.

“Girlfriend?” She looked her over carefully.

Jack then turned her to face The Doctor, “This is The Doctor.”

She looked him over carefully, “I’m confused, the way you speak, are you with him or her?”

The Doctor stood forward and offered his hand to shake, “Both actually.”

“Really? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, Jack was always the incorrigible flirt.” She turned to Jade, carefully looking her over, unsure where she fit into this picture.

Jack noting her attention pulled Jade in closer letting go of his sister. “This is Jade, our daughter.”

“Rose looks a bit young to be her mother.”

“No, Rose isn’t her mother, I am. The Doctor’s her father.” Edith didn’t seem as surprised by the news as any of them would have expected her to have been, but no one said anything.

“Well… You’re timing’s impeccable,” she turned to face Jack. “Dad was just finishing up with dinner while mum wrangles the rest of the kids.” She slipped her arm around Jade and lead the group along a couple of corridors before emerging into a large dinning room covered with a plethora of dishes as an older man was starting to carve a rather large turkey as an older woman, obviously his wife, was trying to persuade a disparate group of kids from as young as four to sit still for dinner. “Mum, Dad, look who’s here.”

Both looked up, both stunned by what they saw. Their mum was the first to recover from the surprise, “Jonathan.” She cried as she crossed to hug him. The task of settling the kids forgotten in her joy of seeing her son for the first time in years.

“Hi mum.”

“It’s been so long Jonathan.” She pulled back and took hold of his face in between her hands, looking deep into his eyes as if searching for something indefinable deep with in them.

“You have no idea mum.” He took one of her hands in his and turned to face the others as his father came over to join in on the introductions that he could tell were about to take place. “Mum, Dad. This is Rose, and this is The Doctor.” He indicated each inturn. “And this…” he then indicated Jade, “Is your granddaughter, Jade.” Jack’s dad seemed to go pale in shock while his mum gave a small cry that she partially stifled with her tented hands on her mouth.

His mum wasn’t slow to act. She crossed to Jade and wrapped her in her arms before pulling back and holding her face, just as she had done Jack’s, a smile on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took in the sight of the newest addition to her family. Half turning to address Jack, “She’s beautiful.” She then let go of Jade’s face and pulled her son and newest granddaughter in and enfolded them in her arms.

Further actions were avoided as a group of adults came in from another room, they stopped at the sight before them. Some of them looked at the group, and then dismissed Jack as if of little importance, others looked him over curiously, obviously new in-laws of his who hadn’t meet him. While some looked happy or relieved to see him. But with so many people now starting to crowd the room Jack, Jade, Rose and The Doctor were lead to the table and seated by his mother as his father left the room in search of more chairs to accommodate the increased number.

**Author's Note:**

> Hate to leave people hanging, but that's all for now.  
> I had three ideas for the character that's the source of the echo.  
> Feel free to let me know who you think they may be. I'll post the next bit in a while once people have had an opportunity to air their theories.


End file.
